Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to the coupling of a server sled with a server backplane and, more particularly, to the coupling of a server sled and a server backplane having orthogonal connectors.
Description of the Related Art
Conventional server chassis are designed so that server sleds (also commonly called server blades) are connected to a backplane or other server interconnect via connectors disposed in-line with the direction of insertion of the server sled into the server chassis. With this arrangement, the technician installing the server sled may apply force in a single direction to both insert the sled into the server chassis and couple the sled to the server chassis connector at the back of the server chassis and in line with the direction of the insertion force. However, the technician generally pushes the sled from an edge furthest away from the connecting backplane, forcing the sled toward the server backplane and introducing unstable compression forces along the length of the sled, which can cause it to bend or crack. Further, in many implementations, the technician building, maintaining, or modifying the computing system does not have a clear view of the connector on the backplane during the sled coupling process, and thus is required to attempt to couple the connector on the sled with the corresponding connector at the backplane without visual cues. This frequently leads to misalignment resulting in damage to the connectors or the sleds themselves.
In some implementations, it may be advantageous to position the sled-chassis connectors orthogonal to the direction of insertion of the sled, such that the technician installing the sled must first apply a force in one direction to insert the sled into the server chassis, and then apply a second force in an orthogonal direction to couple the sled with the server chassis connector. This orthogonal arrangement shares similar characteristics with the arrangement described above; for example, the technician must couple the connectors without visual cues which often leads to misalignment, and the axial force applied by the technician can introduce unstable compression forces along the length of the sled. Further, in many implementations, the connector is disposed at a major edge of the sled while the orthogonal force is applied to a minor edge of the sled, reducing the technician's control over the sled and increasing the likelihood of a misalignment of the connectors, which can result in a failure to electrically and mechanically couple the connectors, or even damage one or both of the connectors.